Find out about Net-based sources of Australian facts, research, background and contacts, as well as media news and training issues. ISSN 1448-2762.

This is the archive blog of Journoz.Com, the Guide to Internet Information Sources for Ethical Australian Journalists. To view the main website, click here:

Archive:

December 02, 2004

The bad guys

You can find brief profiles of terrorist groups from around the world at this site from the US Naval Postgraduate School's Library (http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/tgpndx.htm). Groups include Al-Qaida, Jemaah Islamiya, and others.

October 15, 2004

Know your enemy

The Terrorism Knowledge Base is a look-up tool for groups, regions, countries, incidents, legal cases and documentation. Find it at http://www.tkb.org/. You can use the map to find regions or you can search for groups by name, e.g. Abu Sayyaf, al Qaeda. Groups that are linked to what you searched for are also made available in the results.

October 05, 2004

As it was

Anyone wanting to see front pages chronicling the September 11 attacks can find them at the Screenshot Archive of Online News Sites: September 11, 2001. The site includes more than 250 news and other Web sites from September 11, 12, and 13, 2001. You can browse by publication or by country of origin.

May 06, 2004

Prisoner abuse in Iraq

MSNBC has put up the full text of the report prepared by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba on alleged abuse of prisoners by members of the 800th Military Police Brigade at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad. Find it at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4894001/. The site disclaimer says : The report includes graphic descriptions of events some readers may find objectionable.

May 04, 2004

Iraq body counts

Cable broadcaster CNN has a site about the numbers of coalition deaths in Iraq at www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/. It lists confirmed deaths in the Iraq war and the ongoing occupation. Each entry includes the name, age, unit, home town, details of death, and some entries include photographs. Another site for this kind of information is www.iraqbodycount.net/, which aims to provide an update of reported civilian deaths in the Iraq war and occupation. It includes an incident-by-incident database. It was compiled by a number of mainly UK-based academics and others working for peace.

March 12, 2004

Could we give any more?

Forget poor intelligence or mistaken judgments about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, says Derek Woolner, a Visiting Fellow at the University of NSW at ADFA. That's not the issue - ANZUS is. He asks: How much sovereignty are Australians prepared to give up to stay on good terms with the United States? Good question. Read his words at http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/items/2004/03/00622.shtml.

November 21, 2003

Casualties of war?

Literature now coming forward on journalists and trauma shows that some journalists experience symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of covering disaster and traumatic stories. However, a vast majority donít. Psychologist Cait McMahon is conducting a survey which journalists are encouraged to respond to. The survey, and other background, on the project, can be found at http://www.journotrauma.cjb.net/. The study aims to establish what is the best way of enhancing the psychological wellbeing of journalists. The study will examine -

November 12, 2003

Who are the bad guys?

The US Congressional Research Service has produced a document on foreign terrorist organisations - what they call FTOs for short. Find out who they think the baddies are at http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/25996.pdf. According to the document, the list "publicly stigmatizes groups and provides a clear focal point for interagency cooperation on terrorist sanctions; however, some argue that it is inflexible and misleading, since groups that are not on the list are still often subject to U.S. sanctions." Also, once they make the list, groups stay on it for two years, regardless of activity.

July 01, 2003

A pretty penny

They had a war and now they have to pay for it. The Cost of the War in Iraq contains "a running total of the amount of money spent by the U.S. Government to finance the war in Iraq." $69 billion, and it ain't over yet since the troops are still there. The figures are "based on estimates from the Congressional Budget Office," and may differ from those compiled by the US Department of Defense. The report includes an explanation of how the calculations were worked out, and shows what could have been achieved had the money been spent instead on education, children's health, affordable housing, and energy alternatives. Read the whole thing at http://www.costofwar.com/.

June 10, 2003

Conflict directory

A new directory is always a handy tool for journos needing new contacts. The Directory of Organizations for Conflict Prevention in Asia and the Pacific is an online source list of NGOs, United Nations' organisations, intra-governmental bodies and other international bodies involved in conflict prevention in Asia and the Pacific. It's at http://www.conflict-prevention.org/.

June 04, 2003

Still there ...

The US Congressional Research Service has looked into the question of whether Al Qaeda is still up and running. The paper, "Al Qaeda after the Iraq Conflict", is available online at http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/21191.pdf and concludes that "for the time being it seems that Al Qaeda (or its successors) has emerged from a period of inactivity and remains a very serious threat, requiring concentrated attention and vigorous countermeasures on the part of its prospective targets."

April 28, 2003

War dead

Associated Press has a freebie database on armed forces' war dead in the Iraq conflict. The basic search at http://fmmac2.mm.ap.org/war2/search.php is just that - basic; the Advanced Search offers a lot more options such as searching by cause of death, such as Friendly Fire, by name or by location. All casualties listed are from coalition forces - there is no information on civilian casualties. You can also use the database to search for Freed POWs or soldiers listed as missing.

April 14, 2003

Unlikely media star?

Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf has become an Internet darling and now has a fan site at
http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/. One of the quotes from the site explains his appeal: "In an age of spin, al-Sahaf offers feeling and authenticity ... His lunatic counterfactual art is more appealing than the banal awfulness of the Reliable Sources."

April 09, 2003

Alternative views

A Canadian librarian has created Iraq 2003: Sources of News to link people to alternative sources of news on the Iraq war. These include weblogs, alternative newspapers and online sources, anti-war organisations and campaigns. There are also links to mainstream media, weblogs and diaries from embedded journalists, think tanks and research groups. Find the page at http://cronus.uwindsor.ca/units/leddy/2002.nsf/HelpSubjectGuidesIraq2003.

April 07, 2003

War stuff

The Institute of War and Peace Reporting at http://www.iwpr.net/ has news and a special subscription report on Iraq. Go to the Iraq Programme link to subscribe to the emailed Iraqi Crisis Report. The US's Central Command site has constant updates on what's happening militarily. See for yourself at http://www.centcom.mil/.

April 03, 2003

The Internet and the Iraq War

TV still rules for war news, according to a newly released Pew Internet & American Life report, The Internet and the Iraq War: How online Americans have used the Internet to learn war news, understand events, and promote their views, (http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/pdfs/PIP_Iraq_War_Report.pdf. Still, 77% of online Americans have used the Internet in connection with the war and the under-30s are increasingly visiting blogs for war news. The figures for news media use are as follows:TV - 89% (all Americans) (87% for Internet users)Newspapers - 24% (all Americans) (21% for Internet users)Radio - 19% (all Americans) (22% for Internet users)Internet - 17% (internet users only).

Why reporters go to war zones

Sydney Schanberg, whose book, The Death and Life of Dith Pran, was made into the movie, The Killing Fields, has a piece in the Village Voice about why journalists are drawn to return to war zones, even after horrific experiences. Read it at http://villagevoice.com/issues/0313/schanberg.php

March 25, 2003

Satellite images of Iraq

A range of satellite images of Iraq, including Baghdad and the now destroyed Presidential Palace, can be used free of charge, courtesy of DigitalGlobe. The site says "Permission is granted to electronically publish, publish in hard copy and broadcast these satellite images if proper attribution to DigitalGlobe is provided." Find the images at http://www.digitalglobe.com/gallery/iraq/ and be sure to read the Usage Guidelines.

March 24, 2003

News, and more news

The Newseum has a section called Today's front pages where you can see a lineup of front pages from a range of countries and in a number of languages. Check it out at http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/. (Thanks to Susan M for this tip.)

March 21, 2003

Iraq backgrounders

Find a whole range of well-organised information about Iraq at Sabrina Pacifici's site at http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/002169.html#2169. Link categories include country information, Government reports and web sites, maps, military and war-related sites, news-related sites and special news reports, NGOs, reports from organisations, Saddam Hussein, sanctions, human rights and the anti-war movement, and the United Nations and weapons-inspection sites.

March 14, 2003

Covering the war online

Online Journalism Review has a two-parter starting up called Covering the war online. Find Part one, Battle Stations, at http://www.ojr.org/ojr/technology/1047595519.php. It addresses whether the Internet and new technology may level the media playing field. Part two will be called Mobilizing the Media.

March 05, 2003

War stories

The Committee to Protect Journalists (http://www.cpj.org/) has just produced a free handbook called Covering conflict safely. You can get it in HTML or PDF versions. It covers many areas, such as training, protective gear, health precautions and insurance, knowing the hot spots, reporting in hostile terrain, the rules of war, captive situations and how to recognise and handle stress reactions.

February 24, 2003

Coming, ready or not ...

The US has launched a new site to prepare its citizens for terrorist attacks. Ready.gov (http://www.ready.gov/) explains how to make an emergency kit, how to decide a plan of action and has sections on potential kinds of threat, e.g. chemical, biological, nuclear blasts, radiation and explosions.

February 17, 2003

Military news fix

Jane's, the defence, security and intelligence publisher, are now offering email alerts for free. These include Jane's News Briefs, a weekly headline and abstracts service that provides links through to live stories on janes.com, and Jane's Defence Weekly e-mail alerts, which appear as soon as new stories are posted to the Defence Weekly web site, handy if you need to keep on top of military and defence industry issues. Sign up for either or both at http://www2.janes.com/public/alerts.html, or just visit the main site at http://www.janes.com/, which has latest news.

February 14, 2003

The (parlous?) state we're in

Peter Mares has a think piece about the cost of going to war with Iraq at http://www.apo.org.au/webboard/items/00217.shtml. Mares, a broadcaster with ABC Radio National, spoke at a forum at the Perth International Writers Festival on 7 February.

February 12, 2003

Since war looks ever more likely ...

... you may as well be prepared. Reuters has a new site up for war correspondents. AlertNet at http://www.alertnet.org/ provides country data, info on relief operations and links to satellite images as well as news. As you'd expect, there is a link just for Iraq.

War and moral courage

October 22, 2002

The Iraqi Precipice

The Library's Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Group has produced an e-brief The Iraqi Precipice. It's at http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/FAD/iraq.htm and covers the Gulf War, September 11 and its aftermath, the 'axis of evil' comments and the US's new hopes for regime change.